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When Sana had first laid eyes on Dahyun, she was instantly attracted to her. There was something about the way she just seemed to...glow that caught Sana’s attention. They’d met in university in class, both happened to sit next to each other during a random lecture. Sana kept a seat saved for Dahyun every class after that.
Sana didn’t want to risk making things awkward between them in any way, so she had waited for the class to be completely over before expressing any sort of interest. Usually, Sana liked to think she was fairly confident when she asked someone out, but as she stood there in front of Dahyun, she could feel herself sweating.
How could she not be nervous? In just a short amount of time, Dahyun had become one of Sana’s favorite people to talk to. It started with conversations about class, homework, what other classes each of them were taking, but quickly developed. They had a shared interest in music, in fashion, in coffee.
They started texting from time to time, Sana would text Dahyun when she found a new coffee shop in the area that she thought Dahyun should try, or Dahyun would send a screenshot of the music she was listening to. They fell into each other easily.
The two of them joked around often. Sana always used to think she was funny, but she had nothing on Dahyun. More often than not, Sana found herself doubled over in laughter from some comment of Dahyun’s.
But that’s not to say Sana didn’t get her own jokes in. And she loved it whenever Dahyun laughed, or even just smiled. Dahyun’s smile was breathtaking, sweet and inviting, with cheeks that were just made to be kissed.
So despite all her usual confidence, Sana was shy, though as it turned out she had no reason to be.
Dahyun had just finished showing Sana pictures of one of her favorite cafes. They were standing outside their lecture hall, their last meeting for the class finally done with. It was winter, so it was freezing outside, but Sana would’ve stood outside for hours if that meant a little more time with Dahyun.
The cafe looked cute and pink, a little like Dahyun’s cheeks right now in the cold. It seemed warm and cozy, and before really thinking too hard about it Sana asked, “Would you like to show it to me? As a date?”
Dahyun stared up at her, momentarily stunned to silence, before a smile overtook her face. Damn the cold, because Sana would never know if Dahyun’s heavily pinkened cheeks were born from shyness or the chilled air. She hoped Dahyun blushed when she was shy, it was adorable.
“I thought you’d never ask,” Dahyun replied brightly. It was a little cliche, causing Sana to giggle, but she thought the phrase was fitting. The connection between them was obvious, and the tension had only grown as the semester went on.
They planned to meet up at the cafe that weekend. If the weather was on their side, there was a little park nearby so they could take a short walk. And so the date was set.
Sana had gone on her fair share of first dates, she knew what she liked and she knew what she didn’t. She definitely did not like going to a movie for a first date, how were you supposed to talk to each other?
Dinner was okay, but there was something about an early morning coffee date that just screamed perfection to her. Nighttime was too oppressive, too dark, too serious. It made the air feel heavy and the conversation weighted. Mornings, on the other hand, were the start of a new day, a symbol of a new relationship. The sun was bright, the air was crisp, everything was alight with possibilities.
So yeah, she had a good feeling about this one.
When Saturday rolled around, Sana woke up earlier than she probably needed to. She showered and dried her hair, figuring she’d decide how she wanted to style it after she chose her outfit.
This portion was difficult. It was cold, so everything would be covered up by her coat and scarf if they decided to go for a walk, but on the off-chance they stayed inside she still had to be cute underneath. She scoured her closet for something to fit the occasion, tossing several sweaters and jackets onto her bed in the process.
She finally settled on a pale blue turtleneck that was both warm and form-fitting enough to show her figure should she take her coat off. She chose a pair of black jeans to avoid looking too matchy-matchy and was content with the outfit she’d put together.
Now for her hair, she wanted to look cute but not too overstyled, so she pulled out her curling wand. Sana was thankful she woke up early enough to style her hair into loose curls, adding some dimension to her light brown hair.
She finished off the look with some light make-up, again to both put her best face forward without looking like she was desperate for Dahyun’s approval. She was of course, but she didn’t need Dahyun to know that right away.
When she was finally ready, Sana checked her phone and saw she had a message from Dahyun. The text was just Dahyun confirming the time they were to meet up, but it still made Sana nervous. What if Sana was late and Dahyun thought she stood her up? Or what if Sana went to the wrong place? Or even worse, what if they both get there on time, have their date, and it’s not good?
Sana didn’t think she’d be able to handle the sting of Dahyun’s rejection.
But, now was not the time to dwell on what-ifs. Now was the time to leave.
Sana grabbed a small purse to hold her wallet and keys, throwing her phone in there for good measure. She grabbed a coat and scarf on the way out, and with one last deep breath, headed out of her apartment.
With her fear of showing up late to the date, Sana ended up being about 15 minutes early. She stepped into the cafe to hold a table until Dahyun arrived, cursing her own eagerness. That is, until she saw Dahyun, already sitting at a table on her phone, presumably waiting for Sana.
Sana laughed to herself and let out a sigh of relief. It had to be a good sign that they were both excited enough to be here they couldn’t risk being late.
“I see someone’s early,” Sana couldn’t resist the opportunity to tease.
Dahyun startled, dropping her phone on the table in the process. “I wasn’t expecting you for another ten minutes or so,” Dahyun recovered quickly, “Looks like I’m not the only one.”
They stared at each other, a silent spark moving between them as they both fought back their smiles. Sana was the one to break first.
“Want some coffee?” She asked, gesturing to the counter. “It’s on me.”
Despite Sana’s high hopes, the date was not perfect.
They initially took their coffee to-go, opting to try to walk through the park, but that proved a failure. In their anticipation of the day, both of them failed to check the weather forecast, and about 10 minutes into their walk it began to rain.
The rain was icy and cold, coming down hard right from the get-go. With one look at each other, they both decided to just make a run for it, dashing as fast as they could back to the cafe.
They made it back without getting too soaked, thank goodness, only to find that there weren’t any available seats anymore. The cafe had a standing bar towards the back that they were able to linger at until spots opened up. The bar area was a little louder, so they struggled to hear each other over the noise, and both of them were a little distracted eyeing tables that might empty soon.
After about an hour of standing, a couple finally vacated their table and Sana was able to swoop in before anyone else. By that time, they’d both already finished their drinks, but neither of them wanted to give up on the date yet.
Dahyun volunteered to buy a second coffee for them both, so Sana held down the table while Dahyun ordered. Sana pouted at the idea of Dahyun paying, she was older after all, but if that was what Dahyun really wanted to do, she wasn’t going to stop her.
The cafe was busy, so the line was fairly long when Dahyun left to order. Sana figured she’d be waiting for quite some time, so she took out her phone to distract herself. She tried scrolling through Instagram to take her mind off of things, but it wasn’t that effective. She was too busy hyper fixating on everything that had gone wrong so far, worried that Dahyun was having a terrible time.
It was at that moment that her phone buzzed with a new message from Dahyun. Confused, Sana looked over at the line to see Dahyun staring at her phone, purposefully avoiding Sana’s gaze.
Sana opened the message and nearly choked upon reading it.
You look really pretty today
As she was staring at it, another message came in.
I was too nervous to tell you before
Sana felt her cheeks heat up at the praise, unused to such an open compliment coming from Dahyun. She chanced a glance back over to her again, but Dahyun was still avoiding her eyes.
Sana bit her lip to hide her embarrassment, trying to figure out how to respond. Once she had her idea, she quickly typed it out and sent it, not wanting to overthink it.
You look pretty everyday
I always want to look at you
Sana cradled her head in her arms on the table, shielding her face from the cafe. She couldn’t believe she’d actually sent that. But she didn’t regret it by any means, Dahyun deserved to know how beautiful she was, always.
She peeked her head up to try to look at Dahyun one more time, and this time found her looking back at Sana. Dahyun giggled at the way Sana was hiding, and laughed even harder when she realized she’d been caught staring. Sana found herself giggling as well. She pulled her face out of its hiding place and rested her chin against her hands.
Sana watched as Dahyun finally put in their order. She was given a receiver that would buzz when their coffee was ready. So with the receiver in hand, Dahyun made her way back to their table. Sana sat up fully once Dahyun sat down again.
They were both shier when Dahyun got back, the memory of their messages to each other burning in the front of their minds.
“Hi,” Dahyun spoke quietly enough that Sana almost couldn’t hear it over the noise of the cafe.
“Hi,” Sana replied, matching Dahyun’s volume.
Despite the chaos around them, Sana felt like she and Dahyun were living in their own world at that moment. Dahyun’s eyes seemed to hold 1000 stories, and Sana wanted to know all of them.
It was at that moment that Sana felt like their first date finally began, now that the disasters and poor planning were behind them. Now it really felt like something was about to begin.